In the process of shipping an item from one location to another, a protective packaging material is typically placed in the shipping case, or box, to fill any voids and/or to cushion the item during the shipping process. Some conventional commonly used protective packaging materials are plastic foam peanuts and plastic bubble pack. While these conventional plastic materials seem to adequately perform as cushioning products, they are not without disadvantages. Perhaps the most serious drawback of plastic bubble wrap and/or plastic foam peanuts is their effect on our environment. Quite simply, these plastic packaging materials are not biodegradable and thus they cannot avoid further multiplying our planet's already critical waste disposal problems. The non-biodegradability of these packaging materials has become increasingly important in light of many industries adopting more progressive policies in terms of environmental responsibility.
These and other disadvantages of conventional plastic packaging materials has made paper protective packaging material a very popular alterative. Paper is biodegradable, recyclable and renewable; making it an environmentally responsible choice for conscientious industries. While paper in sheet form could possibly be used as a protective packaging material, it is usually preferable to convert the sheets of paper into a relatively low density pad-like cushioning dunnage product. This conversion may be accomplished by a cushioning conversion machine, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,619,635; 4,699,609; 5,123,889; and 5,674,172. (These patents are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and their entire disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference.) These cushioning conversion machines each include a feed/cut assembly comprising a feed device and a cut device.
In the cushioning conversion machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,635, the feed device is driven by a reversible electric motor and the cut device is driven by a pneumatic motor. The housing of the cushioning conversion machine includes an end panel or wall. The feed device and the electric motor are mounted to the upstream side of the end wall and the cut device and the pneumatic motor are mounted on the downstream side of this end wall.
In the cushioning conversion machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,609, the feed device is driven by a reversible electric motor and the cut device is driven by a solenoid motor. The housing of the cushioning conversion machine includes an end panel or wall. The feed device and the reversible motor are mounted to the upstream side of the end wall and the cut device is mounted to the downstream side of the end wall. The solenoid motor is mounted to the upstream side of the end wall and includes a shaft which extends through the end wall to the cut device.
In the cushioning conversion machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,889, the feed device is driven by a reversible electric motor and the cut device is driven by another electric motor. The housing includes a base plate or wall and an end plate or wall which extends perpendicularly from a downstream edge of the base plate. The feed device is mounted to an upstream side of the end wall and the cut device is mounted to the downstream side of this end wall. The motors are mounted to the base wall and a clutch is provided which, when engaged, operatively couples the cut device to the cut motor.
In the cushioning conversion machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,172, the feed device is driven by an electrical motor and the cut device is manually driven by a handle. Such a feed/cut assembly is used in a machine having a housing which includes an end wall and side walls extending downstream therefrom. The feed device is mounted to the downstream side of the end wall, with its drive shaft being mounted between the side plates. The cut device includes two mounting members to which the other components of the cut device are mounted independently of the machine's housing and these mounting members are attached to and extend between the side walls. The electrical motor is mounted to one of the side plates and the handle is supported by the side plates.
These cushioning conversion machines have achieved considerable commercial success. Nevertheless, environmental and other concerns generally create a continuing need for further improvements and modifications of such machines. Some improvements specifically include the elimination of separate drives for the feed device and the cut device, the ability of the feed device and/or the cut device to be operated in reverse directions, the avoidance of inadvertent movement of the moving components of the cut device, a more assembly-friendly drive-feed-cut power transmission, and a simplification of assembly procedures to allow efficient and consistent mass production.